Cake, Summer Faires and Festivals

 Saturday didn't begin with a lot of plans. The only thing on our agenda was delivering Stacia's Spring Fling cake to Eagle River.

 She put the finishing touches on the cake, and she Allie and I headed to Eagle River.  We learned a LOT making this cake...it was a good experience. We like the idea of a pretty, springy, fruity cake in her portfolio...not sure this will ever be our favorite "cake"  cake. LOL 

As pretty as the picture we were given! LOL 

We checked out Jamin's new 4-plex and headed back to the valley.  Carrie and Josiah had mentioned meeting  up sometime today but no plans were set. Michael decided to stay at home with Grandpa and work on a writing project with an approaching deadline. 

Josiah and Carrie decided they would like to go to the Pyro summer Festival. They planned to meet up with Bre and the kids and head over late afternoon.

 We still had a couple of hours before they all wanted to meet at pyrah's, so the girls and I turned in at this sign and discovered another annual local event we'll want attend again. It was a beautiful day for a  Midsummer Fair.  Friday fling seems to showcase food trucks, the midsummer Fair had vendors of All Sorts. We could have spent much longer just Meandering through the Stalls. Our only purchases were a couple of delicious mini macaroons, and a coin purse made from flat bicycle tires. 

The girls and I stopped for lunch and on to Arielle's to pick up her and the boys.

A couple of selfies of our group! 

Me, Stacia, Arielle, Benny, Allie and Danny is in the stroller

Gideon, Annie, Bre, Jojo in stroller, Cy
Carrie, Annie, Bella 📷 by Bre

It was super easy to find each other at the farm. AND I ran into a gal from Misawa AB PWOC....what a SMALL world. I need to make time to get into Anchorage for a bit more of a visit.  The Pyrah Summer Farm Festival is a simple $5 per adult....there were a few food trucks and such, and LOTS of free, fun activities. I enjoyed walking through the fields...and realizing they were simply letting the weeds grow up with the plants. WHAT??? Revolutionary. 

Josiah's shoulders were popular! LOL 

Benny thinks axe throwing is simple!

Annie and Bella liked the trikes

The maze has a totally different dynamic if you are too short to see over the top - just saying....

Josiah and Gideon

I finally realized to find the flattened weeds/grass and go that way. ::snort::  The petting zoo was a hit. 

Carrie and Benny

Livie is a pro at golf

Oh - look DUCKS...now how do you use the 
clubs on them? 

It was Danny and Jojo's first farm festival 

Such fun! 📷 by Bre

Carrie and Bre 📷 by Bre

📷 by Bre

Precious cargo - 📷 by Bre

It was a fun day...and then we got home. To be continued.....

Friday Night Visitors!

Izaak is on an overnight fishing trip. Bre and the kids came over this evening. Bre brought some dough with her  and let the kids make their own pizzas - always a hit.  We purchased Papa Murphys - making use of that military discount. LOL 

All the BIG girls ate at the Island - Bella (5), Stacia and Allie

We had fun chasing kids around, visiting, listening to kids....and doing a bit of a catch up. Annie is hard to catch in a shot...but here's one. Gideon was moving far to fast all evening for me to catch him. I have no excuse for missing Jojo. 

We had hoped to light the fire and have s'mores - but it was raining. We'll keep making our best use of clear nights. LOL 

This was a nice way to end the day...most of the day was filled with CAKES.....trying to get that cake from The Market RIGHT. LOL 

Alex's Adventure

 Woot! Alex's driving test began at 9:45. He was at the office at 9:30 as requested. Grandpa said, "I think Alex is going to do good." 

Alex said my voice was ringing in his ears as he took his test. "Put your tail on the line!"  Michael said he nailed the parallel parking on the first try.  He went on to pass the driving test with flying colors. 

The funny thing is  I was taking Allie to work about 15 min after Alex's test began. He passed me two or three times as I dropped her off, picked up a drink, and headed home. LOL  He looked cool and collected and was driving well. 

The first graduate of our CURRENT batch of students at the  driving school. ::snort:: Two to go.....

De'Etta's Driving School

We have three young adults who are currently working towards that grand life-skill of possessing their OWN driver's license.  Alex continued to drive through the winter. Stacia and Allie finished up their respective driver's ed during the winter, we added all to our insurance, and told the girls we'd start behind the wheel lessons when the ice was off the ground. 

Alex has his driving test with the DMV tomorrow.  We set out...Stacia is making cakes at home, GG came with us,  we were hoping Allie would be able to meet up with her mom for lunch while we drove. That didn't work out so she joined us for the lessons. I told Alex I KNEW we were a bit unnerving, but having a stranger in the car tomorrow may be unnerving too.  Alex has been driving quite a bit and we are confident with his skills. In looking over the list parallel parking is the one skill we thought he needed practice on. We went out and did a few roundabouts, freeway speeds, and then came back to the church's parking lot to work on parallel parking. 

I laid out a soda can and a frisbee and told him to park between them. ::snort:: Pastor heard us and came out. He brought out cones and told us to feel free to practice. Which we did. 

Alex practiced for about an hour while I gave such helpful pointers as, "Put your tail on the line..." and GG shared what it is like to park a double trailer semi. 

By the end of the hour he was parking like a pro

He felt confident. He was nailing it. We drove home....and after lunch I was back in the church parking lot with Allie and Stacia. Both had had previous practice time with their father's. They told me what they'd done before, and both said it had been quite a long time since they did anything behind the wheel. I decided to set the cones up in somewhat of a course and have them go through it...focusing on turning, the space the car takes, how this car responds(as neither had done much in my van), we went back and forth with me calling for them to stop quickly at random times....turn etc. A few cones were injured - but none fatally. 

Stacia was a bit shy to start

I had them turn and do the loop both ways to practice turning in both directions. 

Allie - like a pro

They were both nervous about driving up the ramp to the church, of course, I had them do that...and they got comfortable with the width of the car and how it really doesn't change when you have a confined space. LOL 

And just when they were feeling pretty good about their driving, we went off the church grounds and into a residential area. I knew both were ready and were quite good at spotting potential hazards. They've called out the hazards while I've been driving for months - I knew they knew what to watch for. Both did great. They went the right speeds, stayed on their side of the road, passed parked cards when needed, watched out for kids, and neither of them ran a single stop sign. 

As we closed our time we talked about what they felt confident doing and what they thought may be areas we should continue to work on - both were self-aware and knew just what they personally needed to work on. Both were a bit shy about pulling the nose of the car all the way into the parking spot so I shared I wanted them to do it just so they knew how long the nose was....even though it's not a big deal not to pull all the way in. It IS a big deal to KNOW how long the nose is....and so....yeah....we ended on this fun note....no worries...totally staged. The car is in park, the engine is off. LOL 

I assured them I will not take them into traffic until I feel they are ready for it, and they aren't at this point. I told them I was quite  confident there would be a day when I tell them they are ready to drive on  busier streets....and they may well feel unprepared but they can be confident I'm not going to ask them to do so until I am 100% sure they CAN do it....like today when I asked them to drive off the church grounds. 

Both got an hour of driving time in today...and I have spent enough time in the van today. LOL  Our goal is licenses before winter....VERY doable.  

A fun observation, I may be the only car in the valley sporting both a handicap plaque and a student driver sign.

Day After Blues

 I should have KNOWN to expect a let down after the excitement was over and everyone was gone! 

While Nate and Heather were here it became apparent Dad CAN walk further than he wanted me to know! ::snort::  Dad was having a hard day today. He was sad, but he was also oppositional. I decided a good dose of Vitamin D was called for. We walked until he told me he had to stop....and then I told him, "Heather said you walked almost to the corner. Nate said you should try to walk a bit further every day. Don't you think you can make it to the corner?"  He did - and then had a good long sit before we started back home. All together it was .4 of a mile. Though he looks grumpy with me, I think the walk did us both good.                                     

I put things back together after weeks of guests. We were both a bit lonely. Stacia and Allie enjoyed down days and caught up on cleaning their room.  The boys worked. Michael had his own appointments. 

I took Dad to Physical Therapy in the afternoon.  They saw how "ornery" he can be, but they got him to work.  The focus is NOT on him walking without the walker, the focus is on him being able to USE the walker WITHOUT falling. He is sure he doesn't need the walker. Before surgery, we were content to let him take the risks...he fell 3 - 4x a week. He fell down stairs, in the garden, on the asphalt....had gashes on his head at most times...visited the urgent care several times....and they all told him to use a walker...and he wouldn't. After surgery, he's on blood thinners. We are no longer willing to take the risk of  bleeding out etc. The docs feel the risk far outweighs the benefits and the fact  he continues to fall WITH the walker only confirms their opinion. We explained  we understand everyone dies once...and if he were living alone he could make that choice, I suppose...but since he lives here, we don't our kids traumatized, spending a lifetime thinking, "If I'd watched closer GG wouldn't have been walking without his walker, wouldn't have fallen and died." If you are one of his friends, please do NOT tell him to "Show faith and walk." It's not helpful. The last time he heard this we spent 8 hours in the ER and he bled for 17 hours. 

ANYWAY - by the time we got to dinner I was fairly well "done." Dad continued to be grumpy. I was happy to take the girls to youth group. I had books and planned to hide for a couple of hours. I thought I'd find my equilibrium and return cheery once again. I was worn out. 

Krista, another youth mom, hopped in my car and we talked for nearly 2 hours. I went home and got 9 hours of sleep....I woke up Thursday a.m. feeling like a new person. It just goes to show what we THINK we need may not be what we actually need. Dad woke up on Thursday in a better frame of mind too. It made his day when I told him he didn't have to go to PT every day. 

Big Foot, Air Planes and Goodbyes

 It's a good tired.  We are refreshed and exhausted at the same time. I don't know how THAT'S possible.  I suppose our love tanks are full and our souls are refreshed from all the extra time with family in the last couple of weeks.  And yet, we ARE tired now that we slow down enough to realize burning the candle from both ends and the middle will wear one down. LOL Our home was full - 12 adult persons. Our home is back to 7 adults. The girls and Nolan are playing Mario kid or party or something.....Alex is prepping for his 0430  start. 

BUT first, before trips to Anchorage and plane rides...there was the BIG FOOT ART GALLERY in Palmer, AK.  Yes, you read that sentence right.  It turns out Maria has taken to watching Sasquatch documentaries to relax during her graduate studies. She discovered there is something of an art expert right here..... I am not sure how we missed it these past four years.  It was a fun visit....and we talked to a believer about LOCAL sightings: times and locations.  We HAD to take our picture with George...

Maria, Allie, Me, Stacia
📷 by Maria

📷 by Maria

📷 by Maria

We had planned to try to fit in a quick trip to the Art Cafe before taking Maria to Anchorage. HOW could we ignore showing Maria the Knick River and possibly seeing a Sasquatch? Off we went...after arming Maria with binoculars...beautiful drive...didn't find any spectacular wildlife. 

Finally, it was time to break these three up. We loved having Maria nearby again. We are praying God makes clear her path and that maybe, just maybe, it will lead to Alaska. Yes, we are THOSE people....we move up and then try to get everyone we love to join us. LOL 

Maria, Allie, Stacia
📷 by Maria

Maria is off to VA where she will begin work on her PhD. Allie and Stacia will take one more week of school break - to recover from our first week off. Whew....we fit a lot into that first week off. LOL 

We dropped Maria at Krista and Luke's. She will visit with them and fly out around midnight.  She'll leave about the time Nate, Heather and Alaina are landing in Eugene. 

It really has been a great week....and guess what? After the wedding? IT'S BEEN WET AND RAINY!!!!  God was so good to us. 

The 5th of July

 I caught the tail end of the sunrise this morning when I took Alex to work. I do miss spectacular Texas sunrise and sunsets. I suppose they are spectacular here, but I never seem to catch them....I've also discovered I can drop Alex at work, zip to Carrs to catch their daily opening and there is usually some pretty good grass fed beef marked down 50%.  LOL  

 

Nate and Heather left early this a.m. to drive Jared and Larissa to the airport in Anchorage. They met up with Jamin for breakfast. 

Jared, Nate, Heather, Jamin
📷 by Larissa 

Josiah and Carrie were going to stop over, but Willow ate a stick and needed to see a vet. It looks like she is not going to require surgery. 

Mrs. Norman did stop by! They were out in the valley to pick up her car and Reno  - their English Mastiff.  We had a quick visit. Note the instant pot - I picked up a couple of grass fed roasts at Carrs and had them cooking all day. They were wonderful with a couple of pans of roasted veggies for dinner. 

Krista, Maria and Heather 

I looked over and caught Dad and Nate visiting....Dad is content to simply have him in the room while he reads the paper. Nate appeared to be napping, but was just resting his eyes. 

Nate helped Michael with a project in our room. It appears a slat in our bedframe was falling apart. Heather cleaned out and re-organized my kitchen drawers.  This is a handy couple to have visit. LOL  They went on a walk with dad. 

Maria, the girls and I attempted a pedicure - but when we got there they were closed. 

Bre and the kids dropped by for an  afternoon visit. It's always fun to see them. Stacia got the three older ones busy making cake doughnuts. 

This allowed the rest of us to sit and visit, and make smiley faces at Jojo. Maria has the Jojo touch. 

The time came for the kids and Bre to go home and help Izaak put up a shed. We pulled out the veggies and roast and had dinner....sat around and visited...one by one everyone headed for bed....except Heather who had a 9 p.m. call with Thailand. LOL 

I find myself missing Jared and Larissa. It was great to have them nearby again. Tomorrow more visitors will leave and life will settle into it's normal routine once again.